Everything had been going right for the Rats in 2001, and going into halftime in the grand final forty-four points up after a blistering second quarter, they had reason to be confident. Then the pie-eating contest began.
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The stage had been set for a contest of epic proportions even before a dollop of Heinz graced the top of any steaming pastries.
On one of the first hot days of Spring, the teams that ran out for the 2001 Wimmera Football League grand final had had very different paths getting there.
The Rats went into the grand final red-hot favourites for the third time in three years.
After crushing the Burras' hopes of a record fifth flag in a row with a thumping victory in the 1999 grand final, the Rats were upset by 10 points in 2000 by a spirited Stawell outfit.
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The Rats licked its wounds, determined to come out bigger and better in 2001.
"We recruited really well. We'd done all the hard work to make sure we were stronger than the 2000 side," Ararat premiership player Tim Shea said.
Coach David Jennings recalled the team felt good going into the final.
"We had a really good season, I think we only lost one or two games. We'd beaten Saint Michael's once or twice before," he said.
The Saints had made the grand final the hard way, battling through three elimination games in a row, including a semi-final against reigning premiers Stawell.
We were abuzz, we were up and about.
- Tim Shea
All the while, the Saints faced its demons after back-to-back grand final losses in 1997 and 1998.
The stage was set for an epic collision as the battle-hardened Saints met the well-rested Rats.
"The game started out at a pretty frantic pace. It was pretty tough, so we ended up being down at quarter time," Shea recalled, as the Saints kicked 5.1 (31) to Ararat's 2.3 (15).
To make matters worse, the Rats lost centre-half back Sam King in the opening minutes to concussion.
"He got a good hip and shoulder from one of their players," Jennings said.
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Nonetheless, with memories of the ignominy of 2000 burning in their minds, the Rats played as men possessed in the second, kicking 9.7 (55) to the Saints 0.1 (1), showcasing their "blistering capabilities" as this masthead wrote at the time.
According to Shea, the Rats came into the halftime break forty-four points up and "pretty rapt" with their performance.
"We were abuzz, we were up and about," Shea recalled.
But the game wasn't over, and the Rats knew that premierships had to be earned.
"We knew the game hadn't finished; we knew the Saints would come out pretty hard in the second half," Shea said.
It sapped the life out of us.
- David Jennings
Any hope of the Rats taking momentum into the second half was dashed when the halftime entertainment was revealed.
The headline event was a pie-eating contest - a new initiative by the league to boost crowd participation in the league's day of days.
"We were in the halftime huddle for almost an hour. We came out flat. It took a lot out of us, more than we thought." Tim Shea recalled.
"It sapped the life out of us," Jennings concurred.
"If we'd had a normal half time, we probably could have continued on. It allowed Saint Michaels to come back into the game."
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According to Shea, the Saints had "copped an absolute barrelling from their coach" and came out "absolutely fired up".
Although the Saints took eight minutes to kick a major in the third term, it finished hard, kicking seven goals to come within three goals at the final break.
"They came out and changed everything," Shea said.
"They put Kelm in the middle, Josh Burgess started kicking goals. They could do no wrong. We tried everything to try to stop them."
"Josh Burgess was on fire, I think he kicked eight straight that day," Jennings recalled.
"We just couldn't stop the ball getting down there.
"Our onballers started struggling in the heat, so we had to change our team around but by the time that happened they were back within two goals," Shea added.
The game was in the unlikeliest of balances going into the final quarter, played at dusk.
The ball even burst at one point during the intense final term.
"The emotions in that last quarter were unbelievable," Shea said.
"We couldn't see the other end of the ground it was that dark," Shea recalled.
"It was after six o'clock by then; you couldn't even see the scoreboard. We had to ask each other who was up, and when it was see-sawing like that, it made it really hard. But we just managed to hang on."
"It was just a real struggle in the last quarter," Jennings said.
"Saint Micks had a lot of momentum. We were just trying to save the game, instead of winning it."
It was almost not to be.
Like all terrific contests, the 2001 grand final had a moment when everything hung in the balance.
Saint Gavin Kelm was streaming into an open goal with just seconds remaining when Doug Walton tackled him in the pocket by the changerooms.
"If he'd have kicked it we would have been beaten," Shea recalled.
"Just goes to show how close it was."
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